When we had a surplus, the GOP’s answer was to cut taxes. When the surplus turned into deficit (in large part because of the Bush tax cuts), the Republicans supported more tax cuts. In time of peace they argued for (wait for it) tax cuts. When we were involved in two wars, costing billions of dollars a month, then–House Republican leader Tom DeLay said, “Nothing is more important in the face of war than cutting taxes.”

How on earth did the GOP maneuver itself into a position where it is opposing tax cuts for the middle class and Barack Obama is fighting for them?

Leading Republicans say they’ve taken this position out of principled opposition to “class warfare.” But come on: tacking an additional 1.9 percent tax on income over $1 million isn’t class warfare. It’s not even class spitballs. Don’t believe me? Twenty-seven Senate Republicans voted against the Republican version of the middle-class tax cut, which deleted the millionaires’ surtax and replaced it with a federal pay freeze and spending cuts.